Birthday Celebrations
by Raven Grimm
Summary: Harry makes some unexpected discoveries while staying at Grimmauld Place. This is Sirius/Remus slash from Harry's POV. Read 'The Pantry' for the conclusion of this story.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Harry Potter and the Missing Chapters - Birthday Celebrations

Author: Raven Grimm

Fandom: Harry Potter

Pairing: Remus/Sirius - Harry's POV

Genre: Slash

Rating: PG-13 to be safe

Total word count: 8290

Summary: Harry makes some unexpected discoveries while staying at Grimmauld Place...

Note: This is set towards the beginning of 'Order of the Phoenix'

Harry Potter and the Missing Chapters –

Birthday Celebrations

Ch1 - Secrets

Harry had never seen Sirius looking quite so happy, given that he's still being forced to hid away at number 12 Grimmauld Place, but then Harry's pretty sure he knows why…

Lots of people, when they reach Sirius's age tended to shy away from their birthdays, but not Sirius, he can't seem to get enough of celebrating, but Harry's almost certain that's down to just how many people are currently staying at his house.

Mr and Mrs Weasley and their son Bill have been there since Thursday, Mrs Weasley currently bustling around in the kitchen making dinner with Tonks – and judging by the sounds of things breaking she's probably not being of much help - where as Fred and George are still at work in their joke shop; Weasley's Wizard Weezes and Ron and Ginny are still at Hogwarts, all of whom will be arriving early Saturday morning with Hermione. Mad Eye Moody is around somewhere, but Harry isn't sure if he's actually staying the night, or just there to wish Sirius a happy birthday, though he'd be a day early if that was the case. Mundungus is staying with them over the weekend as well, much to Mrs Weasley's obvious annoyance.

Harry, having Godson privileges, was allowed to come a day early, getting out of all of his Friday lessons thanks to Dumbledore - who even let him use a port key to skip the long journey - and has spent most the day helping Mrs Weasley with the never ending task of cleaning up the house. When she rushed downstairs to make dinner however, Harry snuck off to see Sirius and found him in his mother's room with Buckbeak carefully avoiding being drafted into Mrs Weasley's House Busting Army.

He wasn't there long before the doorbell rang and Sirius's mother's wails reverberated up through the floors. A second later Sirius was on his feet and rushing down three flights of stairs, completely bypassing the portrait of his mother, and pulling open the doors.

Moody and Mundungus were forcing closed the curtains around the screaming Mrs Black when Harry made his way down the last flight of stairs and over heard Lupin wishing Sirius an early happy birthday.

"Hello Harry," Lupin said over Sirius's shoulder, who had pulled him into a hug and Harry smiled and nodded his hello. Sirius stood back rather abruptly, turning to Harry and beaming at him as he said, "Remus is staying with us for the weekend," he said, turning sharply to Lupin and adding, "And I won't take no for an answer."

Lupin laughed. "I guess I'm staying then."

Sirius only seemed to get happier after that, conversing loudly with the rest of the household over dinner, and Harry couldn't help feeling happier himself because of it.

Conversation at the table drifted to that of birthdays, and Sirius recounted tales of his years spent at Hogwarts with Remus and Harry's father James, eliciting raucous laughter from everyone – even Mrs Weasley - when she thought no one would notice that is, otherwise she just sat there shaking her head in disapproval. Harry wished Fred and George had been there; they'd have found it hilarious and probably would have been inspired…

The Marauders' ridiculous and often reckless sounding antics remained the topic of discussion right through dessert as well. And Lupin looked thoroughly embarrassed when Sirius wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and told everyone about his first birthday after becoming prefect at Hogwarts. Mrs Weasley didn't laugh at all that time, she tutted loudly before collecting up the dinner plates and bustled off to the kitchen. Tonks had barely pushed her chair back before Mrs Weasley said, "No, dear you stay here, I'll take care of the dishes."

Tonks smiled thinly as she sat back in her chair. "I really wish I wasn't such a cluts," she whispered in Harry's ear.

The night wore on to the sounds of laughter and yet more unbelievable stories, and before long people started wondering upstairs to bed, along with Harry - who had managed to stay up late due to the fact that Sirius was the only one with any authority to tell Harry when to go to bed, and him respectfully wishing to spend as much time with his Godson as possible, given that it was nearly his birthday. Eventually only Sirius, Lupin and Mr Weasley were left downstairs when Harry's eyelids were drooping too much to ignore and he conceded it was time he went to bed as well.

He'd barely reached his bedroom door when the urge to show Sirius his present early hit him, and he rushed inside to get it.

He passed Mr Weasley on the stairs, telling him he was just going to get a glass of water – the parcel concealed up the side of his jumper - and said goodnight to him again before hurrying downstairs.

By the sounds of things Sirius and Lupin had taken their drinks into the living room, but the conversation was much quieter than earlier, Harry thought that was out of consideration to those now sleeping, until a name floated his way; his own.

Harry couldn't help but eavesdrop now, and who could blame him; whispered conversations in the night had to be listened into, especially when they're about you… Tiredness having completely disappeared from his mind, Harry snuck over to the partially open door and lent towards the crack, hands resting quietly on the frame.

"Are you sure about this?" Lupin was saying and Harry could just make out the back of his tatty green robes through the gap.

"As sure as I can be, Remus," Sirius said, his hand falling down on Lupin's shoulder.

"But what if he doesn't understand?"

"Harry is a big boy, Remus, and he has a kind heart. I'm sure he'll be fine," Sirius said and Harry's 'kind heart' swelled with pride at his Godfather's praise, though his stomach fell about his knees as he considered what he's supposed to be 'fine' about.

"I know that, and I'm with you no matter what, Sirius, I just don't want anything to come between you and him, I certainly don't want it to be because of me."

"Harry likes you, Moony," Sirius said softly, both hands coming to rest Lupin's shoulders now. "He wishes you hadn't resigned from Hogwarts, you know."

Lupin nodded. "All that can change though. There's a lot to consider, a lot of reasons why telling him could go horribly wrong, and all of them because of me."

Sirius's arms slid around Lupin's back and Harry jerked away from the crack as his Godfather's face came into view.

Harry waited an anxious moment, straining to hear if he'd been discovered, but at Sirius's next words he relaxed and edged back towards the door.

"I know him, Remus, I know he'll-"

"But what if he doesn't?" Lupin insisted and Sirius sighed, pulling back from the hug to look his friend in the face again.

"Look, I'll tell him tomorrow, and if on the off chance I'm wrong - and when am I ever wrong, Remus - _If_ I'm wrong, then I'll apologise to you, and… and I guess he'll never want to see me again, but that's not your fault."

Harry's stomach dropped to his feet now as he tried to make sense of their conversation.

"I hope you're right, Sirius," Lupin said, and after a moment of silence, there was movement inside the room that suggested they'd finished talking and were most probably headed for bed.

Harry hurried upstairs, remembering the present lodged up his jumper as it bumped against his side. He didn't think he could hand it over now though, not without giving away the fact that he'd been listening in to their conversation.

He ducked inside his room just as one of them reached the landing, his heart racing like he'd been chased by a dragon.

It was very hard dropping off to sleep after that, his mind going over every word Sirius and Lupin had said, trying to add in the words they hadn't, trying to make sense of them. After at least an hour spent thinking about it he still hadn't reached a conclusion that seemed reasonable, and Harry couldn't think of a single reason why he could ever be angry at Lupin, let alone never want to see Sirius again. But thankfully his body couldn't resist sleep any longer and he drifted off to dreams of whispered conversations…


	2. Chapter 2

Ch 2 - Surprises

Harry woke next morning to Ron's failed attempt at whispering. The sound of him setting his trunk down was the signal for Harry to give up and stop trying to sleep, instead he rolled over and found Hermione was there as well – that explained Ron's whispering – she, however had managed it quite well, seeing as how Harry hadn't known she was there.

"C-could you be any nnn-noisier?" Harry said through a drawn-out yawn, he really hadn't gotten much sleep last night.

Hermione folded her arms. "What time did _you_ get to bed?" she said, disapprovingly, remarkably resembling Mrs Weasley.

"Late," Harry said bluntly, not really wanting to go into any more detail than that, not with his brain still full of fluff at least.

"Was it nice having Friday off?" Ron asked, sounding extremely jealous, and apparently not caring why he was up so late, which suited Harry.

Harry grinned at him, quite pleased to be getting revenge so soon after having been woken too early for his liking. "I spent all day sitting around with Sirius," he lied smugly, omitting the fact that he'd spent about two minutes with his Godfather verses around five hours with Mrs Weasley and a bucket and broom.

"That's funny, Mrs Weasley said you were quite good at getting rid of the Widges hiding in the broom cupboard by the stairs," Hermione said, failing to hide the smile creeping onto her lips. Ron didn't even bother to hide his smirk.

"So how was Potions?" Harry asked and Ron's face dropped immediately.

Ron, Hermione and Ginny had left Hogwarts before breakfast, arriving by Portkey like Harry had and Fred and George not long afterwards, so they joined the rest of the house for pancakes that Lupin had specifically asked for as it was Sirius's favourite.

Mr Weasley was enlarging the size of the table to accommodate five extra people when Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the dining room, and Moody was conjuring up extra chairs, that Kreacher was trying to sneak off with, muttering things under his breath about too many people in the house, and nasty things about half-breads and mudbloods. After a sharp boot up the backside from Moody's false leg the House Elf scurried off, cursing the ex-Auror irritably. Hermione thankfully hadn't noticed as she was now deep in conversation with Ginny and Tonks – Tonks having been banned from the kitchen after losing control of a whisk and coating the newly cleaned walls with pancake mix.

Fred, George and Mundungus were huddled over in one corner, but by the sounds of it they aren't buying Skiving Snackbox ingredients again, but recounting Sirius's Hogwarts days to much laugher from the twins.

Sirius came out of the kitchen carrying cutlery and was setting the table when Mrs Weasley brought out the Pancakes asking Ron to fetch the others.

Harry took a seat between Ron and Moody, who's magical eye - harry was sure - was looking at him out the side of Moody' head, and Harry still wasn't sure whether he had stayed the night or not, Moody having wandered off long before everyone else had gone to bed.

Breakfast had been going great; Sirius had embarrassed Lupin yet again, this time talking about the Yule Ball, and Lupin got a little revenge by telling everyone about the first time Sirius got flees, and how he didn't stop scratching for days, long after he'd turn back into a human.

Lupin finished eating soon after that, and excused himself from the table. Sirius watched him go before whispering something into Mr Weasley's ear. Mr Weasley shook his head, smiling as he said something Harry couldn't hear over Ron and Mundungus still laughing and talking avidly about Sirius's flees.

That was when Breakfast took a turn for the worst, George and Fred asked Sirius to go into detail on some of his more outrageous schemes, and Mrs Weasley didn't look best pleased as she started dishing out chores.

"I discovered another curtain infested with Doxys in a bedroom on the third floor," Mrs Weasley said. "Fred, George and Ginny, you three can take care of that," she said and Ginny groaned. The Twins exchanged furtive looks but feigned disappointment quite well – no doubt they could do with some more Doxy venom for their Skiving Snackboxes.

"And I've found some Gnomes hiding out in the basement. Ron, Harry and Hermione can take-"

"Actually, Molly, I was hoping Harry would spend the day with me," Sirius interrupted. "That is… if he'd like to."

"Yes!" Harry said, a little too enthusiastically, judging by the look on Mrs Weasley face. And Ron didn't looked too pleased either as he elbowed Harry in the arm, muttering, "Skiver."

Mrs Weasley pursed her lips as she looked hard at Sirius, perhaps mentally telling him not to rub any of his irresponsibility off on Harry.

"Fine, Bill, you'll help Ron and Hermione with the-"

"Arh what?"

"Bill don't interrupt, you'll help them and you'll be happy to do it. Now boys, help you father with the dishes," Mrs Weasley went on. Bill grumbled faintly as he, Ron and the twins helped Mr Weasley clear the table, George and Fred using their wands to levitate the plates so that they didn't have to touch them.

"Come on Harry," Sirius said, rising from his chair and towing Harry from his own and out of the room.

"Thanks for that," Harry said when he was sure Mrs Weasley wouldn't hear, she was now shouting at someone following a loud crash of crockery, and by the sounds of it, it was either Fred or George.

"Actually, Harry, Remus said he's got something to show me - a birthday surprise…" Sirius said, thoughtfully, "and I wanted you to see it as well, whatever it is. Remus said you'd be interested, though I couldn't get much else out of him or out of Arthur," Sirius said with a mock pout. "So, still interested?" he asked, sounding hopeful, and Harry could have laughed, he's even _more_ interested now!

"Absolutely!" he said as Lupin rounded the corner carrying a basket and three umbrellas.

"Ready?" he asked.

"About time!" Sirius remarked, smirking and Lupin laughed as he handed them both an umbrella. "You might need this," he said. "The weather can be a little… sporadic…"

Thankfully Sirius looked just as confused as Harry felt.

"This way," Lupin said, turning around and walking back the way he had come, Harry and Sirius following him in mystified silence.

"Cover your eyes," Lupin said when they reached the broom cupboard by the stairs and Harry had to say it; "You know that's a cupboard?" he asked, and Harry should know - he'd spent most of yesterday inside it, trying to get the Widgets to hand over the tea and leave quietly.

Lupin smiled. "Cover your eyes," he said again and Sirius shrugged before holding his hands over his eyes. "You too Harry."

Umbrella hooked over the crook of his arm, Harry covered his eyes as well, and a moment later there was a creak and a light tug on the sleeve of his jumper towing him – presumably – into the cupboard…

"Okay, you can look now."

Sirius was quickest, his gasp swiftly turning into laughter.

Either Harry had walked a lot further than he thought once he'd closed his eyes, or the cupboard was not a cupboard at all. He had to blink several times to adjust to the bright sunlight beaming down from the blue sky above, and the light breeze was so refreshing after the dank musty smell of the Black house that Harry breathed deeply. The next thing that struck Harry was how brightly green the grass was, and how the trees up ahead looked remarkably like those of the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts. In fact…

"Is this-"

"Hogwarts? Yes," Lupin said, apparently reading his mind, "or at least a part of it, and not exactly _Hogwarts,_more of an amateur recreation of it."

"You bewitched the broom cupboard?" Harry asked, realization dawning.

"With a lot of effort, and a lot of help from Arthur and Alastor too."

"You crafty wolf, Moony," Sirius said laughingly, wrapping an arm roughly around Lupin's shoulders.

"I hope you like it. A lot of spells went into this."

"Like it?" Sirius said, incredulously. "I love it!"

Lupin's cheeks were tinged pink as he smiled at Sirius, still clutching him as he beamed at their surroundings.

"The only trouble is," Lupin said, "with all the spells involved, they've started sparking off one another other, which for some reason seems to be affecting the weather. It could probably do with a balancing charm somewhere," Lupin said with half a shrug, Sirius's arm weighing down his shoulders." Finding Widgets in here, slowed progress a little, so it took longer to organize than I'd anticipated.

"Sorry you got lumbered with clearing them out, Harry," Lupin added. "If I hadn't been on Order business I'd of done it myself, it was my idea after all."

"And a flaming good one it was too!" Sirius said, enthusiastically, and he obviously meant it. It's the best present Sirius could ever have wished for; Harry's gift didn't even come close. Lupin had given Sirius the chance to go outside again, or at least feel like he was, and with him being trapped at Grimmauld Place, that would mean everything to him. The proof being that Sirius hadn't stopped smiling once since opening his eyes.

"Ah, here we go," Lupin said opening out his umbrella which covered Sirius as well - as he was still clinging to his side - and gestured that Harry do the same. Harry opened his just in time to avoid the downpour that followed, a black sky with rain so heavy it was almost deafening, yet it only lasted around three seconds.

"Now you see what I mean," Lupin said, lowering and closing his umbrella, "unpredictable, except if you notice the sky turn pale pink, then you know it's going to rain. Pale blue means it might rain frogs, haven't quite worked out where the frogs are coming from though, I didn't include any and neither did Arthur or Alastor." Lupin look thoughtful, but Sirius laughed. "It's Perfect!"

The sky was brilliant blue again as Harry closed his umbrella, and the puddles at his feet were quickly drying in the warmth of the sun.

Lupin lead Harry and Sirius on a walk around Hogboard – as Sirius had dubbed it – Leading them firstly through the grassy grounds toward the forest, explaining how he and Moody had used an engorgement spell to resize the cupboard, making it at least the size of four Quiditch pitches put together. They wandered through the outskirts of the Forbidden forest for a while, taking cover under the trees to avoid a four second snow storm, and Sirius pointed out a towering, ominous looking tree that had the Marauder's names carved into it – Harry made a mental note to go and find it next time he was at school.

After that, the snow already melting, they wandered over to a replica of the lake, only about a third of the size of the original, but surprisingly realistic.

"Picnic?" Lupin asked, pausing beside the water's edge and holding out the basket he'd been carrying.

"I'm starving!" Sirius said enthusiastically, and Lupin set the basket down in the shadow of the beech tree, tapping it once with his wand. A Second later the basket split down the centre and a red and white checkered blanked spread outwards like a giant flower opening out its petals. All types of food were sticking to the surface of the blanket as it unfurled itself and when it was fully open there were three convenient spaces positioned amongst them.

Harry sat between a bowl of cocktail sausages and a mountain of sandwiches, and Sirius shifted a triple layered cake aside so that he could stretch out his legs across from him.

"You'll have to thank Molly for the food," Lupin said, opening up a bottle filled with what looked like pumpkin juice. "She insisted on making it for me."

Sirius looked about to tuck in, picking something at random, when a thought visible flitted into his eyes, and the smile that hadn't left his face all morning finally dropped.

"Sirius?" Harry asked, concerned, and Lupin looked up from the sandwich he'd been about to eat.

"Harry," Sirius started, looking very serious now, though unable, apparently, to look Harry in the eyes. "There's something… I want to tell you," he said and Lupin looked away now as well, though he didn't return to his sandwich but put it down instead.

Harry swallowed around a lump now formed in his throat, the conversation Sirius and Lupin had had the night before suddenly coming back to him; _'Look, I'll tell him tomorrow, and if on the off chance I'm wrong - and when am I ever wrong, Remus - If I'm wrong, then I'll apologise to you, and… and I guess he'll never want to see me again, but that's not your fault.'_

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but when no words came out he closed it again and waited, feeling more and more apprehensive.

"I-" Sirius looked Harry in the eyes briefly then turned his attention to his hands, clasped in his lap. "There's something I've wanted to tell you for a long time now," he said, glancing at Lupin who was studying him, tight lipped.

"Something _we_ want to tell you," Lupin said, smiling softly at Sirius.

"Harry?" Sirius said, locking gazes with him, his eyes filled with renewed determination. "You like Remus don't you?" he asked, apparently trying a different approach, and that would have been an easy question to answer, if Harry didn't have last night's conversation floating around his head. But regardless of what they're about to say, he _did_ like Lupin, and Harry really didn't see that changing.

"Yeah of course," he said, catching both their eyes to make sure they knew he meant it, and Lupin smiled at him.

"Well, so do I, " Sirius said, "Only…" He looked sideways at Lupin, who appeared on the verge of laughing, he was biting his bottom lip to hold it back. Sirius looked back at his hands. "Only… I like him… a lot. I mean-"

"I think the word you're looking for Padfoot, is 'love'," Lupin said and Harry's certain he must have misheard him, as that was the last thing Harry was expecting them to say. Harry didn't really have a list of possibilities, but if he had, he's pretty sure 'love' _wouldn't_ have been on it.

Sirius sighed, a faint laugh skipping out on the end of it. "Moony and I have… well, we're _together_," he said and Lupin rested a hand on his shoulder.

"'Together'?" Harry echoed, quietly, letting the word, and meaning, sink in.

"Harry?" Sirius said, softly, perhaps attempting to coax Harry back to this currently incomprehensible reality. _Sirius_ _Black was in a relationship with Remus Lupin? It didn't seem possible…_

"Harry," Sirius said again, this time managing to bring Harry round.

"Um…" was all the reply he managed, his mouth then gaping as he stared unseeingly at the beech tree.

"Harry, are you okay with this?" Sirius urged, tension evident in his voice. And that was the most ridiculous question yet.

"Of course I am," Harry said firmly, and both Sirius and Lupin stared at him, clearly taken aback.

"You are?" Lupin asked, disbelievingly.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Harry asked, finally putting together last night's conversation with this one, realizing why Lupin had expected Harry not to like him. "Of course I don't hate you," he blurted out and Lupin frowned at him. "I mean, I'm fine with it," he said. "It was just a little surprising, that's all."

Sirius's unreadable expression abruptly cracked into a wide grin as he grabbed Harry and hugged him so tightly it took his breath away. "You have no idea-" he said, shaking his head, but didn't elaborate.

"Let the boy breathe, Padfoot," Lupin said, tugging Sirius back, and Harry - after taking a deep breath - found himself laughing.

"You looked… so… so anxious… I thought… you were going to… to say s-something horrible!" Harry said between bouts of laughter strong enough to make him buckle forward and nearly get a face full of jelly.

Sirius and Lupin stared at him, stunned by the looks of it – though Harry could barely make them out through the tears now in his eyes.

Sirius cocked an eyebrow at Harry. "Oh you think I'm funny, do you?" he said, a threatening tone to his voice, which was the only warning for the tickle attack that followed.

Harry nearly wet himself he was laughing so hard, and soon Lupin was laughing too, that is until Sirius – the tickling monster – attacked him as well.

The enchanted ceiling was starting to set when the mood turned serious again, Sirius rolling on to his side to look at Harry, his head resting on Lupin's lap. "Harry," he started, drawing his attention, and Harry stopped gazing at the faintly visible stars and tilted his head to look at him.

"Mm?" he said.

"Can you… keep this secret?" Sirius asked, drawing Lupin's attention as well. He peered over his book at Sirius, absent mindedly curling a lock of shaggy black hair around his fingers. "The only people that know are you and Arthur."

"And we're pretty sure Alastor knows as well," Lupin added.

Sirius nodded awkwardly against Lupin's thigh. "It's hard to get anything past that magical eye of his You can't do anything without him see-"

Lupin nudged Sirius in the shoulder.

"I don't think Harry needs you putting images in his head, Sirius," Lupin scolded, paying Harry a sympathetic look. But it was too late; Harry was already envisaging what Moody could have accidentally witness in his usual way of checking for danger.

Sirius sniggered. "Sorry, Harry," he said and Harry mentally shook himself, trying to dislodge the images now sticking to his mind.

"So how come Mr. Weasley knows?" Harry asked, hoping for a change of subject, but by the look on Lupin's face the answer was just going to be more of the same.

"He… walked in on us," Sirius said, unhelpfully, and before Lupin had a chance to nudge him again.

"Nothing like that!" Lupin said quickly. "We were only… uh… kissing."

Lupin flushed, his fingers again curling in Sirius's hair.

Sirius grinned. "Poor Arthur, he didn't know where to look."

"Still thought to ask if we'd seen the Daily Prophet he was looking for though," Lupin said, obviously trying not to smirk.

"Didn't have the heart to tell him I was sitting on it," Sirius sniggered, and Lupin's blush deepened.

"Didn't he… uh… say anything about what he'd seen?" Harry asked, curious despite himself.

"Sure he did," Sirius said, grinning crookedly, taking Lupin's hand in his and holding it to his lips.

"But only after he'd gone to leave," Lupin said.

"'Um… did… did I- were you two k-kissing?'" Sirius said in his best Mr Weasley voice, making Harry laugh.

"Poor Mr Weasley," Harry agreed.

"Snape wants a word."

Everyone jumped.

Sirius was suddenly sitting bolt upright and all eyes were on Mad-eye Moody leering over them. And All Harry could think of was; if Moody didn't know already about Sirius and Lupin, he does now.

Moody nodded at them, sniffing loudly, then turned and left without another word.

"What did he say?" Sirius said after a pregnant pause.

"Snape," Lupin said, sounding distant.

"'Snape' what?"

"He wants a word," Harry supplied, watching the dazed expression on Sirius's face.

There was another pause then, "I think Mad-eye knows," Lupin said.

"Yeah," Sirius said, and laughed. "I guess we go see what Snivellus wants then.

"Oh and Harry… you can tell Ron and Hermione if you want to. I trust them to keep it secret as much as I trust you," Sirius said as he got to his feet.

"I'd tell Ron not to stare though," Lupin added. "He may be loyal, but he can be a little… obvious at times," he said gently, tapping his wand on the blanket, which curled back in on itself, quickly resuming its original shape as a wicker basket.

Once back in the main house Harry was told to wait upstairs with the rest of the non-Order members by Mrs Weasley who was applying the usual Extendable Ear-proof charms around the meeting room.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch 3 – Shocks

Ron, Hermione and Ginny were all really excited to hear about the now Mysterious Cupboard by The Stairs, and Ron hid it well beneath his; I've-been-working-all-day-while-you've-been-having-fun demeanor. A loud crack half way through Harry's description of HogBoard signaled the Twins arrival via apparating, and Harry had to start his explanation all over again to renewed, oohs and aahs.

Harry didn't get a chance to tell Ron or Hermione about Sirius and Lupin's revelation, not with Fred, George and Ginny there, and it wasn't too long after that that Mr Weasley called up the stairs for them to come down for dinner any way.

It was another Sirius favorite; roast chicken with all the trimmings.

"This smells wonderful, Molly," Lupin said, taking a seat between Sirius and Bill.

Harry sat opposite Sirius, but froze as soon as his bottom touched the seat; Snape was still there. He was sitting at the opposite end of the table to Mr Weasley. Only two seats separated the professor from Harry; Moody and Mundungus.

Harry's face must have said it all as Sirius leant across the table and hissed, "Molly insisted he stay for dinner." Sirius clearly wished she hadn't, and Harry was right there with him.

Harry snuck a look at Snape who looked just greasy and put-upon as always. He didn't look the least bit pleased to be eating dinner at the Black house with everyone, so why did he even except? Harry had no clue. But it wasn't long before he reached a bizarre and thoroughly shocking conclusion…

Dinner started ordinarily enough, or as ordinary as eating at the same table as Harry's most hated teacher could be. Ron was whispering in Harry's ear, the same subject over and over again; 'Why's Snape here?' 'When's Snape leaving?' 'Do you think Snape's staying all night?' Snape, Snape, Snape! Harry had to elbow Ron to get him to shut up, he was annoyed enough at having to eat dinner with Snape, he didn't need to hear his name every five seconds as well.

Lupin, Mr Weasley and Moody - Moody speaking quite loudly to be heard across the table – were talking about the nest of Widgets Harry had cleaned out. Fred and George were talking conspiratorially about something Harry couldn't quite hear over Moody talking right by his ear, and Ron was joining in, now that he wasn't allowed to talk about Snape or risk being elbowed again.

Hermione, Ginny, Mrs Weasley and Tonks were all discussing, by the sounds of it, Elf-rights, and Mundungus was deeply involved in eating, every now and then surfacing long enough to say something to Moody before turning his full attention back to his food.

The only two people at the table that weren't joining in with any of the conversations floating around – Harry excluded – was Sirius and Snape, and the look on Sirius's face caught Harry's attention.

He was shooting Snape very dark looks, eating only occasionally, and sitting rigidly in his seat.

Snape was acting even weirder though; he kept glancing up across the table, his attention always falling on Lupin!

And instantly Harry understood the look on Sirius's face. But did that mean…?

Harry stared hard at his plate, suddenly not very hungry any more. One shocking revelation was enough for one day.

Harry tried to focus on eating, keeping his eyes firmly on his plate, but every time he held the fork to his lips he couldn't bring himself to open his mouth.

"You OK, Harry?" Sirius asked apparently having taken his eyes of Snape long enough to notice Harry's undoubtedly pale complexion and sudden aversion to food. Luckily no one else at the table had noticed.

"Fine," Harry said, taking advantage of his own open mouth to stuff the fork inside. Sirius was still looking at Harry, worriedly, but Snape adjusting himself in his seat caught both their attentions.

He was sitting, stiff-backed, knife and fork discarded on his almost empty plate, and regarding the room with disinterest. When his gaze drifted up the table again, he caught sight of Sirius throwing daggers his way before his eyes could find Lupin, so they narrowed instead, on Sirius.

Harry swallowed dryly as he watched Sirius and Snape glare at each other, Sirius hunched over in his seat, trying – by the looks of it – to block Snape's view of Lupin.

"Are you not feeling well, Harry, dear?" Mrs Weasley asked, apparently having noticed Harry's mostly full plate.

He smiled at her. "I'm fine," he said again, then made a proper effort to finish his dinner and not rouse suspicion again.

It was very difficult to eat now that Snape was looking at him suspiciously instead of at Lupin or Sirius. Harry bent low over his plate, and tried to block his view of the professor with his hand, but he could still feel Snape's eyes burning into him.

Harry thought everything would go back to normal after dinner, Snape would go home and Harry could forget the weird, slightly disturbing thought he'd had about his teacher. Unfortunately, just as Snape was rising from his seat - Sirius and Lupin heading into the kitchen carrying plates - Mrs Weasley insisted Snape stay for cake as well.

Snape appeared ready to decline when Lupin returned to collect more plates and Snape changed what he was saying midway through the magic word. "N-Fine," he said, sitting back into his seat, and pompously flicking his robs out behind him.

Sirius's expression was the mirror image of Harry's when he came back into the dining room to find Snape hadn't left. He looked questioningly at Harry as he collected his still half full plate.

"Mrs Weasley," Harry hissed in his ear, as the women herself bustled out into the kitchen, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Should have guessed," he said, and moved along the table.

Sirius's knuckles whitened around the crockery, when he spotted Lupin picking up Snape's plate, Snape's eyes focused intently on Lupin's hands as they reached across him.

There was an abrupt crack, like the sound of apparating, and glancing again at Sirius's hands Harry saw him conceal a plate behind his back; it had a spider web of cracks along its surface. Moody's magical eye was nowhere to be seen - most probably watching Sirius out the back of his head.

"Who wants cake?" Mrs Weasley asked, as she returned with the largest Birthday cake Harry had ever seen – lit with more candles than he could count at a glance - and consequently averting a Sirius-Snape confrontation that Harry was sure must have been brewing. Lupin seemed utterly oblivious to all the attention he was receiving, and serenely collected the remaining plates and took them out to the kitchen, Sirius trailing behind him.

Sirius was told by Lupin to blow out the candles when they returned, the ex-professor not taking 'no' for an answer, and Sirius conceded defeat and managed to blow them all out in one go.

Snape resumed glaring at Sirius while everyone tucked in, but Sirius himself was deep in conversation with Lupin to pay him any attention, which Harry was thankful for, it's the most relaxed Sirius had looked all evening.

"Something's up with Snape," Ron hissed in Harry's ear, and the only reason why Harry didn't elbow him for mentioning Snape again was because Ron was right.

"Yeah… I think…" Harry caught himself, he didn't have a clue how he was going to start explaining his theory, but it was probably best if he started somewhere other than at the dinner table.

Ron was looking at him expectantly, waiting for Harry to finish what he'd been about to say.

"I'll tell you later," Harry said, gesturing Snape with his head, to say he was too close and Ron nodded, and stuffed more cake into his mouth.

There didn't seem to be any more awkwardness between Snape and Sirius for the rest of the meal - once Snape realized that Sirius was too distracted to notice him staring that is - and Snape lowered his penetrating glare to his cake instead, which – by the looks of it – he wasn't much enjoying any way.

Cake having gone down a treat – by most - everyone started drifting into the lounge with their drinks, and Mrs Weasley _didn't_ ask Snape to join them thankfully, so it wasn't long after that that he left.

Shortly after everyone had gone through to the lounge, Harry managed to corner Sirius in the kitchen when he went to get another drink and Harry had followed him under the same pretence.

Harry watched the dishes, glassy-eyed, as they hovered above the sink quietly cleaning themselves. He felt overly aware of Sirius watching him, but was finding it very hard to think of the right way to voice the theory that's been bugging him all through dinner.

"Are you going to spit it out, Harry?" Sirius asked as he slouched back against a counter, waiting for Harry to speak. "Or am I going to have to use the Heimlich maneuver?"

Harry looked at him, opened and closed his mouth a few times, but the words were still not formed enough to come out. He closed it.

Sirius cocked his head, folding his arms and looking concerned.

_Start simple_, Harry decided. "It's about Snape," he said, and instantly Sirius stiffened, his arms falling down at his sides, his hands clenching into fists.

"What about Snape?" he asked, venom etched into the name.

Harry swallowed. "And… and about Lupin," he added and Sirius's eyes widened, then narrowed, suspiciously.

"What do you know?" he asked, his voice hushed as he peered over Harry's shoulder in the direction of the door, suddenly very tense.

"Not a lot, that's why I wanted to ask," Harry said, and Sirius lowered his gaze to Harry's but continued to glance up at the door as he spoke.

"Well what do you _think_ you know?" Sirius asked, apparently reluctant to spill all just yet.

Harry bit his lip. "Just that… well I thought Snape hated you and Lupin, only…" Harry looked at his shoes. "Only, by the way he kept looking at Lupin during dinner, I think maybe…maybe he _likes_ him…" Harry trailed off, not knowing what else to say, and Sirius didn't seem ready to fill in the silence either. The silence itself, however, was enough to tell Harry he was probably right, or at least to some extent.

"Drinks won't make themselves, you know." Harry jumped at the sounds of Lupin's voice over by the door.

Lupin looked suspiciously at them when they said nothing and Sirius gestured with his head that he should come over.

"Harry knows about Snape," Sirius told Lupin when he was close enough that he could whisper, and Lupin stiffened.

"You're a bright boy, Harry," Lupin said, and it was both praise and disappointment that Harry heard in his voice.

"So, Snape does… _like_ you then?" Harry asked, the words coming out so quietly he wasn't even sure if they could hear him.

"He had a funny way of showing it," Lupin said, sighing and smiling thinly.

"How long?" Harry asked, not really sure how much they were willing to tell him.

"Since as long as we've known him," Sirius said, irritably, crossing his arms again.

"Since Hogwarts at least," Lupin said, "we don't know how long exactly."

"I do!" Sirius snapped. "He'd been staring at you since day one!"

"That could have been because of the scars," Lupin pointed out, absentmindedly touching his face and tracing one of the long scars with his finger, but Sirius just shook his head.

"The first time I realized," Lupin went on, "was when Slughorn paired us up in Defense Against the Dark Arts in our fifth year."

"I was lucky, he paired me with James," Sirius said and Lupin scoffed.

"Slughorn's favourite."

Sirius laughed. "Hardly," he said.

"Anyway…" Lupin continued. "We had to conjure and control a Brastle Wisp during class, and as homework we had to write up everything we'd- Do you want to know all this?" Lupin asked uncertainly, and actually, Harry did. It was disturbing to think of Snape being attracted to anyone, but Harry supposed it had to happen eventually, right?

Harry just nodded, not wanting to break Lupin's flow any further.

Lupin smiled. "Well, we went to the Library to work on the write-up. Sirius and James could quite easily do theirs in the Gryffindor Common room, but neither I, nor Snape wanted to go into each others, so the Library was the only place we could work.

"I'd sat opposite Snape but it proved too awkward to see what he'd written so I had to sit next to him instead, much to his apparent discomfort. Snape barely said two words to me that weren't Wisp related, and before long we were the only ones left." Lupin paused, flushing slightly, and Harry supposed he'd gotten to the point where he discovered Snape's secret.

"I'd been reaching across in front of Snape when he grabbed me by the collar…" Lupin's cheeks were really quite red now. "I thought he was going to hit me… but instead… he leant forward…" - Harry was beginning to regret wanting to hear this, now that the image of Snape leering in for a kiss was imprinted in his mind – "Our… um… lips, only grazed, as Snape was suddenly being pulled backwards off his chair."

Lupin looked pointedly at Sirius now, who was smirking, and Harry opened his mouth in a smile.

"You?" he asked and Sirius's grin widened. The image of Snape puckering up was replaced by the image of Sirius pulling him off his chair. Harry couldn't help but snigger.

"And this was all before Sirius and I… before he…"

"Before I kissed him," Sirius said. "We weren't together then; I guess it was this that made me get my act together and let Remus know how I felt.

"From that day on Snape hated me-"

"Understandably," Lupin added.

"-but it didn't stop him eyeing Remus whenever the opportunity arouse."

"So how come you were in the Library then?" Harry asked, innocently, and he didn't miss the light tinge of pink that briefly graced his Godfather's cheeks.

"I didn't trust Snape," Sirius said, dismissively.

Lupin lent an arm on his shoulder. "I never did ask how long you'd been there," he said and Sirius looked at his hands.

"I followed you there after lunch," he admitted.

"You were there the whole time?"

"I told you I've never trusted Snape. And I was right to, wasn't I?" Sirius said, once again smirking.

"My knight in scruffy black wizard robes," Lupin said, laughingly.

"I f'ought you were getting more cake, Remy," Mundungus said from the doorway making Harry start. Mundungus narrowed his eyes. "Wha' you up to?"

"Not everyone is up to something, Dung," Sirius said, deciding now was the best time to make his drink, and Lupin headed to the fridge for more birthday cake.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch 4 – Secrets, Surprises and Shocks all Rolled into One

After everything that had happen on Saturday, Harry completely forgot to give Sirius his present and was already up in bed when he remembered it. He told Hermione to wait in his and Ron's room as he really needed to tell them about Sirius and Lupin, and went back downstairs, present in hand.

Harry didn't hear any mysterious late night whispering this time, which is why he didn't stop at the door to the lounge, which was already ajar. He froze though, when he saw his Godfather in the armchair by the window, Lupin kneeling either side his legs, their lips pressed tightly together.

For a brief moment Harry imagined himself as Mr Weasley, looking for copy of the Daily Prophet and consequently walking in on a similar scene.

"Harry?" Hermione hissed, and Harry nearly jumped out of his skin. "What are you-"

Harry grabbed her before she could say another word, hastily turned her around and guided her back towards the stairs.

"Harry, What's-"

"I'll tell you upstairs," Harry whispered, his voice even more hushed so as not to wake Mrs Black, and have her scream out their whereabouts to the whole house.

Ron was frowning at them when they returned to the bedroom, Harry quietly closing the door behind him.

"Why are you so red?" Ron asked, and Harry felt his cheeks; they _were_ surprisingly hot.

"Look, there's something…" Harry paused, smiling at how similar Sirius's attempt to explain this had been. He climbed onto his bed, cross-legged and pulled his blanket around him. Hermione sat on the end of Ron's bed, and the both of them stared expectantly at Harry.

"Sirius and Lupin… um," he paused again. "You're not going to believe this."

Ron looked exasperated. "What?" he hissed.

"They're… together."

Hermione looked sideways at Harry. "They're what?"

"Together," Harry said again.

"Together?" Ron repeated, sounding just like Harry had when he'd been told.

"As in, 'in a relationship'," Harry elaborated, and Hermione gasped.

"You're kidding?" she said, clasping her hands over her mouth.

"In a relationship… together?" Ron repeated, dumbly.

"Yes, Ron, in a relationship… together, as in 'with each other'," Hermione said slowly and Ron's eyes bulged.

"Seriously?"

"Shh, keep your voice down!" Harry hissed, his words punctuated by the sound of footsteps on the landing. They kept very quite while whoever it was passed by their room, Ron sighing heavily when it appeared they'd not been heard.

"How long have you known?" Hermione asked in a whisper.

"They told me in the broom cupboard," Harry said and began to explain in detail what had happened, including what he'd heard the night before and what he'd just walked in on - Hermione went bright red when she realized she almost had as well. "But you can't tell anyone," Harry hastened to add.

"Why?" Hermione asked. "There's nothing wrong with it," she said defiantly.

"No nothing like that, they just want to keep it quite at the moment. Mr Weasley and Moody knows, but no one else."

"Dad knows?" Ron asked, speaking for the first time since Harry had started explaining.

"Yeah, but only by accident," Harry said, vaguely, not sure that Ron would want to know the full details.

"He never said," Ron huffed.

"Obviously they don't want everyone to know, Ron," Hermione said snappishly. "Your dad was good to keep it a secret." She gave Harry a disapprovingly look.

"Sirius said I could tell you," Harry said, defending himself and Hermione puffed up a little - proud to be allowed in on the secret, Harry suspected.

Harry looked at his hands as he considered how to explain about Snape now that they'd gotten over the initial shock of Lupin and Sirius's relationship. "But that's not all…" he started and Ron's eyes widened again.

"What else?" he asked, tugging his quilt up around his ears as he lent forward eagerly.

"You know you said something was up with Snape?" Harry asked and Ron nodded, his eyes lighting with the memory.

"Well…"

Harry told them everything Lupin had said in the kitchen earlier and when he finished neither Ron nor Hermione seemed able to respond. They were both staring at Harry, mouths gaping.

"That explains a lot," Hermione said knowledgably after a lengthy silence.

"It does?" Ron asked doubtfully.

"Well, yes. For a start it explains why Snape seems to dislike Sirius so much," Hermione said. "Why he was so determined to send him back to Azkaban, and for the Dementors to give him the kiss."

"All because Sirius stopped him kissing Lupin?" Ron said, abruptly turning red around the ears at what he'd just said.

"Yes, Ron," Hermione said condescendingly. "That, and becoming Lupin's boyfriend, meaning that Snape couldn't," she said and Harry felt himself blush at how easily Hermione found it to talk about.

"So… Snape's jealous?" Ron asked, smirking despite how awkward he was obviously feeling talking about Snape in this way.

"I'd say so," Hermione said.

"But I thought Snape didn't like Lupin," Ron said, and it was true that Harry had always thought that as well, but looking back on it now, it _did_ make sense.

"He was probably just annoyed at Lupin for picking Sirius over him," Hermione said dismissively before breaking into a yawn. "I'm going to go to bed," she said, getting to her feet. "Night, Harry… oh and Ron, try not to stare or everyone'll guess they're together."

Ron looked wounded as Hermione left the room, but Harry couldn't help laughing faintly at the fact that Sirius and Lupin had said the exact same thing.

"I take it you didn't give Sirius his present then?" Ron sniggered as he rolled onto his side and reached up to turn the lamp off.

"I'll remember tomorrow," Harry said to the darkness, lying down and pulling the covers up to his ears, though by the way things had been going, Harry doubted he'd remember before having to return to Hogwarts on Sunday night.

The End

Find out what Harry's present is in the companion piece called 'The Pantry'


End file.
